As a leader on the forefront of cybersecurity research and professional preparedness in the industry, Auburn University and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering will host the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) director and assistant director during a two-day event Aug. 22-23.

CISA Director Christopher C. Krebs will deliver an address Thursday, Aug. 22, at 10 a.m. in the Grand Hall of the newly constructed Brown-Kopel Engineering Student Achievement Center, where he will outline the agency’s strategic intent, long-term goals, priorities and pathways to success.

Krebs is the first CISA director and was originally sworn in on June 15, 2018, as the under secretary for the predecessor of CISA, the National Protection and Programs Directorate. As director, Krebs oversees CISA’s efforts to defend civilian networks, manage systemic risk to national critical functions and work with stakeholders to raise the security baseline of the nation’s cyber and physical infrastructure.

On Friday, Aug. 23, CISA’s Assistant Director for the Infrastructure Security Division, Brian Harrell, will deliver an address at 10 a.m. in the Grand Hall of the Brown-Kopel Center outlining the agency’s plan for combatting insider threats, the convergence of cyber, infrastructure resilience, domestic terrorism and targeted violence, public-private partnerships and information sharing.

Harrell was appointed in December 2018 as the Department of Homeland Security’s assistant secretary for infrastructure protection, and now serves as the first CISA assistant director for infrastructure security.

Frank J. Cilluffo will moderate a question-and-answer session after both addresses. Cilluffo is the director of the university’s McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security and the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, a Washington, D.C.-based center that drives the policy component of the McCrary Institute’s work. Cilluffo is a member of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission and the Department of Homeland Security’s Advisory Council, and he’s routinely called upon to advise senior officials in the executive branch, U.S. Armed Services, and state and local governments on an array of matters related to national and homeland security strategy and policy.

About Samuel Ginn College of Engineering
The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University has a long and rich tradition of excellence in engineering education, consistently ranking among the top engineering institutions in the country. Auburn University is a nationally ranked land grant institution recognized for its commitment to world-class scholarship, interdisciplinary research with an elite, top-tier Carnegie R1 classification and an undergraduate education experience second to none. Auburn is home to more than 30,000 students, and its faculty and research partners collaborate to develop and deliver meaningful scholarship, science and technology-based advancements that meet pressing regional, national and global needs.